Truth and Power

Politicians are afraid of the truth. Truth is an absolute, something which does not sway in the wind, something that can not be possessed or subverted to private purpose. Politicians deal in perception which can be manipulated, twisted, changed; used as a shield, e.g. "wrapping themselves in the flag" or as a weapon, e.g. "Saddam has WMDs" or McCarthyisms "Better dead than Red".

The most a politician can do with Truth is to reveal or conceal it which includes half-truths and such. Truth becomes like the rock upon which a lighthouse is built. We could tell a story about politicians and Truth.

A long time ago on a long forgotten coastline, there was a dangerous outcropping of rock near a small fishing village. Many ships, loaded with their catch bound for the sailors families, had been sunk coming back from their time at sea. The village can ill-afford building a lighthouse to warn sailors of the dangerous rocks but reject the notion of risking more ships on a known danger. And so the lighthouse is built. The people are proud of their accomplishment, they've made their world a better, safer place.

Nature, having setup the rocks as a deadly game of chance between incoming ships and the rocks, sees the completed lighthouse and feels thwarted by the puny men; cheated of the spoils of it's "game". Angry now, Nature decides to strike back against the hubris of men, sending rain, wind, and waves to batter the lighthouse, to blind the revealing light and tear down the tower that deigns to signal danger to the unwary. The lighthouse, being a product of man, cannot withstand the relentless attack of the elements and falls, its light no longer shining, its building no longer standing guard.

The rocks remain, ships continue to sink, the widows continue to weep, the people continue to lament their losses. Nature continues to enjoy the offerings of the village, safe in the knowledge that its capricious nature is again safe from the light of the truth.

To those who seek power, that which does not empower them further is an obstacle to further power whether by being a hindrance directly or by being a distraction indirectly; thus Truth which does not support is concealed to guard against being used as a weapon against the power-seeker. Perception is the currency of power and a people distracted by a tangential Truth is a threat to those to covet the power of crowds willing to believe and follow. The lighthouse is not the Truth but only the marker of it. Nature may be able to destroy the marker but the rocks, like the Truth, remain.